


Truth or Dare

by MPhoenix7



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 06:03:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13381683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MPhoenix7/pseuds/MPhoenix7
Summary: The majority of people decided to leave the room and just enjoy the party, which was, very obviously, the smart choice there. But Ryan never went to parties to make smart choices.





	Truth or Dare

**Author's Note:**

> First of all: big thanks to sessrumnir who beta-d this, told me to post it and is just an AMAZING person
> 
> Also: Shane and Ryan, I hope you never see this

This party was not something Ryan had really looked for, as he had literally spent his Thursday night in a haunted location and was still tired of not having slept very much that night. Actually, he had decided he was not going to come to Eugene’s place, opting for stay home this friday and probably play video games. 

 

Shane - who had slept like a baby in the haunted house, not giving a shit if ghosts were trying to kill them or not - had other plans for them, though, and said to Eugene they would go. When Ryan confronted his taller friend about it, the guy just shrugged and said a quiet “I just thought it would be fun, but I can cancel if you don’t wanna go.” and he looked so sad about it that Ryan promptly agreed to go, because he never wanted to make Shane sad in his life, and also because Eugene would be kinda pissed at them and he was a scary guy. So, at 8pm that night, he picked Shane at his house saying, in a fake grumpy way and with a smile, that his friend was totally owing him one for ruining his quiet night in.

 

The thing was: Ryan would follow Shane anywhere, any time, if the guy just asked him the right way. He would follow him to another office another town, or to hell itself, because staying behind meant missing Shane, and every day that hurt him more.

 

Their relationship was the strongest friendship he ever had. Their arguments were heated but never hurtful and their silences were comfortable, whether on drives to a location or after 8 hours of editing. Shane could read him better than anyone, sometimes bringing him a cup of coffee before Ryan even knew he needed one, or reassuring him about a script that Ryan was silently struggling with.

 

And that’s why Ryan never said anything about how he felt.

 

Being in love was something idealized, something his teenage self found the best feeling in the entire world, and Ryan knew it was, still, somewhat true to him. The kisses and the hand holding and the lazy mornings were things he missed and still dreamed about for his future.

 

But the 27 year-old Ryan had higher stakes. The 27 year-old Ryan had had his heart broken many times, and learned to value his friendships a lot more. The 27 year-old Ryan had worked really hard to be where he was now, and couldn’t risk the chemistry that was the core of Unsolved. 

 

The 27 year-old Ryan preferred the easiness to know that, no matter what, he would always have a place in Shane’s life, even if it wasn’t exactly the place he wanted, than to risk it all and not have his best friend in his life anymore. So, when Shane looked at him that way that made his heart skip a beat, he had to make himself take a deep breath and pretend nothing happened.

 

When they parked near the party, Eugene’s house was already full of people and the loud music could be heard easily. The sight made Ryan sigh and Shane gave him a smile and brought back his shitty British accent, as if it wasn’t him who got them into this situation from in the first place:

 

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!”

 

Ryan just gave him a giggling “Shut up, Shane.” and left the car.

 

~ * ~

 

“So, just making the rules clear for everyone” Jen said, 2 hours after they got there, from the top of Eugene’s living room table, the only way to be heard in the middle of a party when you’re 5-foot-and-not-enough-inches “Truth or dare, the way you all played on high school. Once you choose you gotta stick to your choice. Each person gets a veto, to use when you wanna get out of a question or a dare. To make things more interesting, when you use your veto, you gotta drink a glass of whatever Eugene chooses for you.”

 

Half of the people listening to her laughed at the last part, the other half shook their heads and let out a sigh or a quiet “hell, no”. Eugene was the poster boy for chaotic evil in parties and he had the drinking tolerance of ten frat boys put together. Whatever he chose for someone was not gonna be light, and probably would not taste very good.

 

The majority of people decided to leave the room and just enjoy the party, which was, very obviously, the smart choice there. But Ryan never went to parties to make smart choices, so he stayed, along with Zach, Jen, Eugene (obviously), and a couple interns who were drunk enough to think that it was a good idea. It was just about when Ryan was looking for a place to sit in the circle that he noticed Shane leaving the room and grabbed his arm.

 

“Dude, you’re not staying?”

 

Shane laughed “Didn’t really want to. I know where this is going, and it’s stupid.”

 

Sometimes Ryan thought that the need to banter with Shane had become involuntary reflex, just like breathing, the words coming out of his mouth without his brain approval “What is it, Madej, too scared of people finding out that the demon joke is not really a joke?”

Recently his goal was more to see Shane smiling than actually making a point, and, as expected, that joke awarded Ryan with one of Shane’s loud laughs, one of the ones without any sarcasm in them, that warmed Ryan’s heart with joy - although he knew they were past that, now, and the answer was very much less platonic than ‘joy’- and made him smile alone in the days to come remembering it. Shane seemed to consider the idea for a second.

 

“You know what, little guy? I’m staying. But on one condition.”

 

There was something mischievous about his friend’s tone, and Ryan braced himself for what was on his way.

 

“Oh, yeah? What is it?”

 

“If you use your veto, you gotta wear a ‘Ghosts are bullshit’ sign around your neck the whole week. If I use mine, I’ll wear a ‘Ghosts are real’ sign. We can take pictures and post it online and let the fans drag the loser. How about that?” Shane said with a shit-eating grin. He claimed his life was an open book, so he didn’t really have much to lose, but Ryan, on the other hand, may or may not have feelings about a certain human grasshopper he wanted to keep private. He was a damn good liar though, if he really put effort into it. Besides, he had been the one to start this teasing, so he couldn’t back out now. 

 

“You got yourself a deal, big guy.”

 

Shane smiled and shook the hand Ryan offered him.

 

The game went as expected, most of the questions becoming way too personal way too fast, even more when people started getting drunker. The fact that most of them had used their vetoes and drank the glass of god-knows-how-many-different-liquors-are-mixed-in-here that Eugene gave them didn’t help.

 

It was nice, though, allowing himself to feel younger than he was. Shane must’ve felt the same way, as he kept giving Ryan smiles and casually touching him more often. Since Unsolved started they’d been close friends, but it’s been a few months since their movie nights ended up, more often than not, with Shane sleeping on his couch and making him coffee in the morning. Ryan knew that it was probably nothing more than a very close friendship, but he couldn’t stop wondering if there was a chance that his feelings were reciprocated, if all the times he caught Shane looking at him when he thought the other man wasn’t paying attention actually meant something.

 

Ryan was light-headed but not really drunk when the small, adorable Zach, who had already admitted to have read fanfiction involving him and Eugene and liking it, did something Ryan would never forgive him for.

 

“You know what Shane-boy? You laughed at me for reading fanfic, but there’s more involving you and Ryan than me and Eugene. So, here’s your dare” Ryan sighed, this was not gonna be any good, and neither he nor Shane were drunk enough to blame it on the booze next Monday “I want you to kiss Ryan.”

 

Jen cheered in the background, the little traitor. Eugene was laughing when he said too loud “And do it like you mean it, Madej”. The interns were looking at everything like it was the goddamn super bowl. 

 

Ryan heart was giving up on him but the part of his brain that was a fan of dark humor could appreciate that his causa mortis was going to be “His best friend was going to kiss him and his heart just called it quits because he never thought he would get this far”. Jake would laugh at that. You know, one day. Maybe. 

 

It was all happening simultaneously too fast and not fast enough, his anxiety kicking in and distanciating Ryan from the party, making everyone and everything become a foggy background picture while his intrusive thoughts dominated his mind.

 

_ What if he sucked at kissing? His past girlfriends never complained but you never actually know and... _

 

_ What if their teeth knocked too bad?  _

 

_ What if he got too nervous and threw up? _

 

_ He didn’t even have a minty candy… _

 

_ What if he fucked up their friendship? _

 

Ryan didn’t really know how long it had passed since Zach’s dare but, before his brain could run any more worst case scenarios, Shane’s nonchalant voice brought him back to reality:

 

“Give me your worst drink, Eugene, I’m vetting it.”

**Author's Note:**

> To be continued, if you like it :D
> 
> Feedback is always welcome and appreciated!
> 
> I'm on tumblr! http://i-am-ghost-proof-baby.tumblr.com/


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